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“”I think you are talking about being admitted for “observation” - bad if you go straight to long-term care after that.””

That’s what the doctors will write up - “under observation” when they admit the patient but it’s not right. Not taking up a hospital bed/room for several days, undergoing all kinds of tests and sometimes surgery. Only to a government entity would such a thing be considered “outpatient.” People have had to fight this and it hasn’t been pretty.

Since I first ran across this a few years ago, I’ve long since forgotten the reason for Medicare pushing doctors to write up admissions like this and too tired to look it up.

Here’s an example I hadn’t seen yet - reported just a few days ago.

https://www.healthleadersmedia.com/finance/inpatient-or-outpatient-medicare-rule-sows-knee-replacement-confusion

Another one:

https://www.medicare.gov/what-medicare-covers/what-part-a-covers/inpatient-or-outpatient-hospital-status-affects-your-costs